GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 58. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General’s Offjce, 
Washington, June 4, 1862. 
The following act of Congress is published for the information and 
government of all concerned: 
AN ACT to prevent and punish fraud on the part of officers intrusted 
with making of contracts for the government. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be the duty ot 
the Secretary of War, of the Secretary of the Navy, and of the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, immediately after the passage of this act, to cause 
and require every contract made by them, severally, on behalf of the 
government, or by their officers under them appointed to make such 
contracts, to be reduced to writing, and signed by the contracting 
parties with their names at the end thereof, a copy of which shall be 
tiled by the officer making and signing the said contract in the “Returns 
Office” of the Department of the Interior (hereinafter established for 
that purpose) as soon after the contract is made as possible, and within 
thirty days, together with all bids, offers, and proposals to him made 
by persons to obtain the same, as also a copy of any advertisement ho 
may have published inviting bids, offers, or proposals for the same; all 
the said copies and papers in relation to each contract to be attached 
together by a ribbon and seal, and numbered in regular order numeri- 
cally, according to the number of papers composing the whole return. 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the further duty of 
the said officer, before making his return according to the first section 
of this act, to affix to the same his affidavit in the following form, 
sworn to before some magistrate having authority to administer oaths: 
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that the copy of contract hereto an- 
nexed is an exact copy of a contract made by me personally with 
; that I made the same fairly, without any benefit or 
advantage to myself, or allowing any such benefit or advantage cor- 
ruptly to the said , or any other person; and that the 
papers accompanying include all those relating to the said contract, as 
required by the statute in such case made and provided.” And any 
officer convicted of falsely and corruptly swearing to such affidavit, 
shall be subject to all the pains and penalties now by law inflicted for 
wilful and corrupt perjury. 
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That any officer making contracts, 
as aforesaid, and failing or neglecting to make returns of the same, 
according to the provisions of this act, unless from unavoidable acci- 
dent and not within his control, shall be deemed, in every case of such 2 
failure or neglect, to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction 
thereof, shall he pxrnished by a fine of not less than one hundred dol- 
lars, nor more than five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for not 
more than six months, at the discretion of the court trying the same. 
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the 
Secretary of the Interior, immediately after the passage of this act, to 
provide a fit and proper apartment in his Department, to be called the 
“ Returns Office,” within which to file the returns required by this act 
to be filed, and to appoint a clerk to attend to the same, who shall be 
entitled to an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars, and whose 
duty it shall be to file all returns made to said office, so that the same 
may be of easy access, filing all returns made by the same officer in 
the same place, and numbering them as they are made in numerical 
order. He shall also provide and keep an index book, with the names 
of the contracting parties, and the number of each and every contract 
opposite to the said names ; and he shall submit the said index book 
and returns to any person desiring to inspect the same; and he shall 
also furnish copies of said returns to any person paying for said copies 
to said clerk at the rate of five cents for every one hundred words, to 
which said copies certificates shall be appended in every case by the 
clerk making the same, attesting their correctness, and that each copy 
so certified is a full and complete copy of said return; which return, 
so certified under the seal of the Department, shall be evidence in all 
prosecutions under tbis act. 
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the 
Secretary of War, of the Secretary of the Navy, and of the Secretary 
of the Interior, immediately after the passage of this act, to furnish 
each and every officer severally appointed by them with authority to 
make contracts on behalf of the government, with a printed letter of 
instructions, setting forth the duties of such officer under this act, and 
also to furnish therewith forms, printed in blank, of contracts to be 
made, and the affidavit of returns required to be affixed thereto, so that 
all the instruments may be as nearly uniform as possible. 
Approved June 2, 1862. 
By order of the Secretary of War: 
L. THOMAS, 
Official: Adjutant General. 
Assistant Adjutant General.